Michael Masi will not be F1’s race director for the 2022 season, which starts in March. The move, a consequence of the Abu Dhabi GP controversy that resulted in Max Verstappen’s title, was announced by new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
He pays for his controversial management of the last rounds of Abu Dhabi which resulted in the coronation of Max Verstappen, but also, no doubt, other questionable decisions taken throughout the year. Formula 1 race director since 2019, Michael Masi has officially been removed from his post by the International Automobile Federation (FIA). The Australian will therefore not be in charge of the races for the 2022 season. The announcement was made this Thursday, almost a month away from the first Grand Prix scheduled for March 20 in Bahrain.
“Michael Masi, who did a very difficult job for three years as Formula 1 race director following Charlie Whiting (died on the eve of the start of the 2019 season following practicing for more than twenty years, editor’s note), will be offered a new position within the FIA”, says Mohammed Ben Sulayemthe new president of the world governing body.
F1 adopts a VAR and removes the broadcast of certain radio communications
Race direction will now alternate between Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas. The former was in charge of the German DTM Touring Car Championship. He was expected to take over the management of Formula 2 and Formula 3, but also to assist Michael Masi in this 2022 F1 season. The second was in charge of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with in particular the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Two other important decisions are taken by the FIA in response to the Abu Dhabi controversy. The 2022 race direction will now be assisted by a “virtual control room”. Its operation will be “comparable to the video assistance to arbitration (VAR)” which exists in football, in order to contribute to “the application of sporting regulations using the most modern technological tools”. In addition, radio communications addressed to the race director will no longer be broadcast on television. The FIA thus wishes to “protect” Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas. However, it will always be possible for the teams to “ask questions to the race director according to a well-defined and non-intrusive process”.
Mercedes had denied claiming Masi’s departure
Already criticized for decisions taken in other races, notably in Saudi Arabia where he proposed a bargain to Red Bull and Mercedes to sanction Max Verstappen, Michael Masi had been in the hot seat since December 12, the date of the last GP of the season. F1 2021 in Abu Dhabi. For his critics, the regulations were not respected when he brought in the safety car and allowed the race to be restarted for a final lap, when the late cars had not yet caught up with the rear of the peloton following splitting. Thanks to this decision, Max Verstappen was able to overtake Lewis Hamilton and rob him of the title of world champion.
The FIA then announced the opening of an investigation, following rejecting all post-race complaints filed by Mercedes. The body had in particular estimated that the texts allowed Michael Masi to have carte blanche in the management of the safety car. Nevertheless, the federation admits that it will “review” the rules on the duplication of single-seaters under the safety car regime.
These explanations were not enough to mitigate the criticism once morest Michael Masi. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff didn’t mince his words: “Having a conversation with Michael Masi doesn’t interest me. The decisions that were made in the last four minutes of this race cost Lewis Hamilton a title World Cup deserved. (…) We are held hostage by improvised decisions in all areas”. Subsequently, the German team had nevertheless had to deny having claimed the departure of Masi.
In recent days, the pressure had once once more mounted on Michael Masi, with radio recordings circulating suggesting he had been influenced by a Red Bull official during the race.
